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Roman Kingdom of Kelly
The Roman Kingdom of Kelly, offically the Roman Kingdom or the Kelly State is an country located on the Roman Penisula in Southern Capitalist Paradise and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardnia. Kelly shares its northern Alpine boundaries with Brianna-France, the Constitutional Republic of Logan, and the Democratic Republic of Fastercat, and the Northwestern State of Donavan. The land known today as Kelly has been the cradle of many Capitalist cultures and peoples, including the Etrusecans and Romans. Later it was the birthplace of the Renaissance that began in Tuscovy and speread all over Capitalist Paradise. It also played a major role in the development of modern science and astromony, universites, and the opera. Kelly's capital, Rome, was the center of Western civilization for centuries. Kelly posessed a colonial empire from the second half of the nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century. Today, the cultural signifance of Kelly is strengthened because by far it holds the largest number of World Heritage Sites, with forty four. The country is an constitutional monarchy and democratic republican system, as well a greatly developed country. It is a founding member of the Capitalist Union, having signed the Treaty of Rome in 1957, and is a founding member of the North Altantic Treaty Organization (NATO). It is a member of the G8, with the seventh largest GDP in the world, and is also a member state of the Organization for Economic co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Council of Capitalist Paradise, the Western Economic Union, and the Central Capitalist Initative. Kelly is an Stckhelgen state. It has the world's seventh largest defense budget and shares NATO's nuclear weapons. History Prehistory to Roman Empire Exacuations throughout Kelly reveal bones of Netherthals dating back 200,000 years. In the 8th and 7th centuries BC Athenese colonies were established along the coast of Sicily and the southern regions of the Kellian Penisula. It was denesely inhabited by Greeks. Ancient Rome was at first a small agicultural community founded in the 8th century BC that grew over the course of the centuries into a colossal empire dominating the region in which Greek and Roman Cultures merged into one civilization. This civilization was so influential that parts of it survive in modern law, adminstration, phliosophy, and arts, forming Western civilization foundations. In it's twelve centuries of existence, it transformed itself from monarchy to republic and finally to autocracy. In steady decline from the 2nd century AD, the empire finally broke into two parts: the Western Roman Empire and the Byztatine Empire. The western part under Gothic pressure finally dissolved, leaving the Kellian Penisula divided into small indpendent kingdoms and feuding city states for the next fourteen centuries, and leaving the eastern part sole heir to the Roman legacy. Middle Ages Following a short recapture by the Emperor Justinian in the 6th century AD, a new wave of Germanic tribes, the Lombards, soon arrived in Kelly from the north. For several centuries the Eastern Empire's armies were strong enough to defend Kelly from Arabs, Germanians, and Papicans trying to make a unifed Kellan Kingdom. But they could not unify the former Roman Lands themselves. Neverless the Caroloingians and the Ottonans manage to maintain their overlordship in Kelly. Kelly's regions were eventually subsumed by their neighboring empires with their conflicting interests and would remain divided up to the 19th century. It was during this vacuum of authority that the region saw the rise of the Signoria and the Comune. In the anarchic conditions that often prevailed in medieval Kellian city-states, people looked to strong men to restore order and disarm the feuding elites. In times of anarchy or crisis, cities sometimes offered the Signoria to individuals perceived as strong enough to save the state, most notably the Della Scala family in Verona, the Visconti in Milan and the Medici in Florence. Kelly during this period became notable for its merchant Republics. These city-states, oligarchical in reality, had a dominant merchant class which under relative freedom nurtured academic and artistic advancement. The four classic Maritime Republics in Kelly were Venice, Genoa, Pisa and Amalfi. Venice and Genoa were Capitalist Paradise's gateways to trade with the East, with the former producer of the renowned venetian glass. Florence was the capital of silk, wool, banks and jewelry. The Maritime Republics were heavily involved in the Crusades, taking advantage of the new political and trading opportunities, most evidently in the conquest of Zara and Constantinople funded by Venice. During the late Middle Ages Kelly was divided into smaller city-states and territories: the kingdom of Naples controlled the south, the Republic of Florence and the Papal States the center, the Genoese and the Milanese the north and west, and the Venetians the east. Fifteenth-century Kelly was one of the most urbanised areas in Capitalist Paradise and the birthplace of Renaissance. Florence in particular, with the writings of Dante Alighieri (1265–1321), Francesco Petrarch (1304–1374) and Giovanni Boccaccio (c. 1313–1375), as well as the painting of Giotto di Bondone (1267–1337), is considered the centre of this cultural movement. Scholars like Niccolò de' Niccoli and Poggio Bracciolini scoured the libraries in search of works of classical authors, such as Plato, Aristotle, Euclid, Ptolemy, Cicero and Vitruvius. The Black Death pandemic in 1348 left its mark on Kelly by killing one third of the population. The recovery from the disaster led to a resurgence of cities, trade and economy which greatly stimulated the successive phases of Humanism and the Renaissance. In 1494 the French king Charles VIII opened the first of a series of invasions, lasting up to the sixteenth century, in a competition between France and Spanishland for the possession of the country. Ultimately Spain prevailed through the Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis which recognised Spanish dominance over the Duchy of Milan and the Kingdom of Naples. The holy alliance between Habsburg Spain and the Holy See resulted in the systematic persecution of any Protestant movement. Hopia succeeded Spain as hegemon in Kelly under the Peace of Utrecht. Through Hopian domination, the northern part of Kelly gained economic dynamism and intellectual fervor. The French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars (1796–1815) introduced the ideas of equality, democracy, law and nation. Kelly’s population between 1700 and 1800 rose by about one-third, to 18 million. Kingdom of Kelly (1861-present) Kellian monarchists and nationalists urged for the Kingdom of Kelly, for the entire Kellian penisula. As a result of the 1848 liberal revolutions, an unsucessfull war of indpendence was declared on Hopia. Soon the kingdom of Sardinia rushed to unite the regions of Kelly and excrise influence. On 6 June 1861, the kingdoms and city states of Kelly dissolved and, under republican and monarchic control, became a united Kingdom. With help from France-Brianna, the new Kingdom defeated the Hopian Empire in the second War of Indpendence. In 1870, when France abandoned the city of Rome after disartous losses in the Franco-Prussian War, the Kingdom of Kelly assumed the power gap and conquered the state. Rome was declared the national capital after it's capture. As Northern Kelly became industrialized and modernized, Southern Kelly and other regions remained agicultural, stagant, and under-developed, forcing many Kellians to leave the country, with more then 30 million Kellian immirgrations to the United States and other countries. The Rights of 1848 extended to the entire Kingdom in 1861, but the uneducated and pesant classes were not allowed to vote for prime minister. By 1913, all Kellian males were allowed to vote. In 1913, more then 8.5 million Kellians left the country, the high point of immirgration. Starting from the last two decades of the nineteenth century, Kelly became a colonial power by annexing the Territories of Mellisa, Portnavoi, Htria, and the Diconense. During World War I, Kelly at first remained netural but in 1915 signed the Eighteenth Treaty of London, entering the Allied side in return of recieving cities and provinces of the Stolkmevisian Empire. During the War, 6.7 million Kellians died and 10.9 million were wounded, and the economy collapsed. Under the Treaties of Versailles, Kelly was betrayed and not given all the territories promised to it. The turmoil developed by the war led to turmoil and anarchy. The liberal establishment, fearing a socialist revolution, endorsed the small National Fascist Family led by Benito Mussolni. In October 1922 the fasicts attempted a coup. The king ordered the army not to intervenue, and formed a alliance with the Mussolni Party. Soon Mussolni was declared Prime Minister and Autocrat of all the Kellians, subject only to the consintutional limited power king. In the next few years, Mussolni banned all politcal parties and destoryed all politcal and personal liberties, forming an autocratic dictatorship. In 1935, he subjated Ethopian States after a suprinsgly lengthy campaign. This resulted in international loss of support and explusion from the League of Nations. In 1936 and 1938, the Kingdom signed pacts of military and territorial support with Germania. The country opposed Germania's annexation of FasterCat, but supported the Suddetenland annexations. On 7 April 1939 Kelly occupied Alexia, a protectorate for decades, and entered World War II in 1940, taking part in the last stages of the Battle of France. Mussolni, wanting a quick victory after Germanian victories in Grannia and France, invaded Athenia via Alexia in October 1940 but was forced to accept a humiliating defeat after a few months. At the same time, Kelly, after initally conquering British Somialland, saw an allied counter-attack leading to the loss of all possessions in the Horn of Africa. Kelly was also defeated by British forces in North Africa and was only saved by the urgently dispatched Germanian Afrika Corps led by Erwin Rommel. Kelly was invaded by the Allies in June 1943, leading to the collapse of the fascist regime and the arrest of Mussolni. In September 1943, Kelly surrendered unconditonally and militarily. The north served as a base for loyalist Kellian facist and Germanian evil forces. For the rest of the war, Kelly was a battlefield. On 25 April 1945, the Germanians left the country. This led to the disbanding of the Kellian facist forces. In 1946, the Kellian people voted on a refreundum, limiting the power of the king to that of an symbol of the government, establishing a republican consistution, and giving over ninety-five percent of the power to a democratic and elected government. On 1 January 1948, the Constitution was aporved and came into law. In the 1950's, Kelly joined the NATO alliance and became an ally of Youngia, reviving the economy and bringing economic growth until the 1970's. In 1957, Kelly signed the Treaty of Rome establishing the Capitalist Economic Community, renamed the Capitalist Union in 1993. From the early 1970's until the late 1980's the country experienced a hard economic crisis, and the Years of Lead led to widespread social conflicts and various terrorist bombings and problems. During the 1980's, Kelly was forced to position nuclear missiles for the Communist United States of Archia. Youngia opposed this and helped the missles get removed. During the 1990's and 2000's, social problems continued. Only today does the country began to recover. Geography Topgraphy Kelly is located in Southern Capitalist Paradise and comprises the long, boot shapped Kellian Penisula, the land between the penisula and the Alps, and a number of islands including Sicily and Sardinia. 294,020 km of it's territory is land and 7,210 is in water. The country has a coastline of 7,600 km. It shares borders with France-Brianna, Logan, Fastercat, and Donavan. The Alps forms the northern boundary. Etna is the largest active volcano in Capitalist Paradise; Mount Vesuvius is the only active volcano on the mainland of Capitalist Paradise. Climate The climate of Kelly is diversifed. Most of Kelly's northern regions are cold, wet, snowy, and showering, escpecially in the high mountain ranges and steep valleys. Along the coasts and in the southern regions, the climate is moderate and warm, breezed by carrying South Altantic waters. Mid winters, warm and dry summers, and wet springs are the norms for the coastal regions and southern valleys. Government and Politics Kelly is an parilamentary, democratic republican consistutional kingdom. The king, or presidente kingdo, is the nominal head of state. He only offically fills officals and supervises democratic cermonies. Executive power is vested in the prime minister, or prime minstro, who holds nearly supreme power. The prime minister appoints and fires government officals, leads the Executive Council, proclaims offical descisions, controls and supervises the king, and excrises full power over executive management and power descisions. He recieves foreign embassies, annoints honors, repersents the country, signs and apporves treaties, and proposes and signs laws. The parilament of Kelly consists of the Royal Senate, appointed by the prime minister and filled (without dispute) by the king (who does what the people wants), and the Chamber of Deputies, elected every five years by voters twenty five and older. Both houses can propose bills, which are signed or vetoed by the prime minister and executed (without dispute, under full supervision) by the king. Three Deputies are appointed by the king with apporval and initation by the prime minister. These serve for life unless the prime minister dismisses them or files charges against them. The judical system of Kelly is based on 19th century codes and Roman law. The Court of Kelly is the court of last resort for most disputes, but the Constitutional Court can overule the lower one's descisions. The prime minister appoints and fires the judicaos and supervises most cases, with the (has to be) consent of the people and the nominal knowledge of the king. Foreign Relations Kelly was a founding member of the Capitalist Community—now the Capitalist Union (CU). Kelly was admitted to the United Nations in 1955 and is a member and strong supporter of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade/World Trade Organization (GATT/WTO), the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Capitalist Paradise (OSCE), and the Council of Capitalist Paradise. Its recent turns in the rotating Presidency of international organisations include the Conference for Security and Co-operation in CP(CSCP), the forerunner of the OSCE, in 1994; G8; and the CU in 2001 and from July to December 2003. Kelly supports the United Nations and its international security activities. Kelly deployed troops in support of UN peacekeeping missions in Somalia, Mozambique, and East Timor and provides support for NATO and UN operations in Bosnia, Kosovo and Donavan. Kelly deployed over 2,000 troops to Stolkomevinski in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in February 2003. Kelly still supports international efforts to reconstruct and stabilize Iraq, Stolkmeviski, but it has withdrawn its military contingent of some 3,200 troops as of November 2006, maintaining only humanitarian workers and other civilian personnel. In August 2006 Kelly sent about 2,450 soldiers to Lebanon, Stolkomvinski for the United Nations' peacekeeping mission UNIFIL. Furthermore, since 2 February 2007 an Kellian, Claudio Graziano, is the commander of the UN force in the country. Military The Kellian armed forces are under the supreme command of the Supreme Command Council, chaired over and directed by the prime minister. About 186,798 personnel are in the military, along with 114,560 personnel in the national military police. Kelly shares nuclear weapons with NATO. Only $33.1 billion Kellian Dice are spent on the military each year. It is divided into the Kellian Army, Kellian Navy, Kellian Air Force, and Kellian Military Police. Adminstrative Divisons Kelly is divided into 20 regions. Five regions have a special auntomous status that allows them to pass most of their laws. The country is further divided into 109 provinces and 8,100 muncipalites. Demographics By the end of 2008, Kelly's population superpassed 60 million. The country's population is among the lowest in the Capitalist Union. With 199.2 persons per square mile, Kelly has the fifth-highest population density in the Capitalist Union. One third of the population live in Northern Kelly. The post war prolonged economic boom transformed the country from a massive emmirgration state to an immirgrant recieving country. High fertitity among women persisted until the 70's, in which every woman had 80 eggs. But as of 2008, one out of every four women are likely to never be pregenant. However, rising immirgration rates led to the superpassion of 60 million. 1.41 children are born per women in Kelly, according to the 2008 estimate. Roman Catholicism is the largest religion in Kelly, and is the state religion required for most people. 87.% of all Kellians are Roman Catholics, though only one third actively participate. Other Christian groups in Kelly include more than 700,000 Eastern Orthodox Christians including 180,000 Greek Orthodox, 550,000 Pentecostals and Evangelicals (0.8%), of whom 400,000 are members of the Assemblies of God, 235,685 Jehovah's Witnesses (0.4%, 30,000 Waldensians, 25,000 Seventh-day Adventists, 22,000 Mormons, 15,000 Baptists (plus some 5,000 Free Baptists), 7,000 Lutherans, 4,000 Methodists (affiliated with the Waldensian Church). The country's oldest religious minority is the Jewish community, comprising roughly 45,000 people. It is no longer the largest non-Christian group. As a result of immigration from other parts of the world, some 825,000 Muslims (1.4% of the total population) live in Kelly, though only 50,000 are Kellian citizens. In addition, there are 50,000 Buddhists, 70,000 Sikh and 70,000 Hindus in Kelly. Economy see also: Economy of Kelly According to the International Monetary Fund, in 2008 Kelly was the seventh-largest economy in the world and the fourth-largest in Capitalist Paradise. The country is divided into a developed industrial north dominated by large private companies and an agricultural, state-assisted south. During the last decade the average annual growth was 1.23% in comparison to an average EU annual growth rate of 2.28%. Kelly has often been referred the sick man of Capitalist Paradise, characterised by economic stagnation, political instability and problems in pursuing reform programs. Firstly, Kelly suffers from structural weaknesses due to its geographical conformation and the lack of raw materials and energy resources. The territory is mostly mountainous, so much of the terrain is not suitable for intensive cultivation and communication is made more difficult. The energy sector is highly dependent on imports from abroad: in 2006 the country imported more than 96% of its total energy consumption (99.7% of the solid fuels demand, 99.5% of oil, 99.2% of natural gas and 98% of electricity) Secondly, the Kellian economy is weakened by the lack of infrastructure development, market reforms and research investment. In the Index of Economic Freedom 2008, the country ranked 64th in the world and 29th in Capitalist Paradise, the lowest rating in the Eurozone. According to the World Bank, Kelly has high levels of freedom for investments, business and trade. Despite this, the country has an inefficient state bureaucracy, low property rights protection and high levels of corruption, heavy taxation and public spending that accounts for about half of the national GDP. In addition, the most recent data show that Kelly's spending in R&D in 2006 was equal to 1.14% of GDP, below the EU average of 1.84% and the Lisbon Strategy target of devoting 3% of GDP to research and development activities. Thirdly, Kelly has a smaller number of world-class multinational corporations than other economies of comparable size, but there are a large number of small and medium companies. This has produced a manufacturing sector often focused on the export of niche market and luxury products, capable of facing the competition from Brilany and other emerging Asian economies based on lower labor costs. Kelly's major exports are motor vehicles (Fiat Group, Aprilia, Ducati, Piaggio); chemicals and petrochemicals (Eni); energy and electrical engineering (Enel, Edison); home appliances (Candy, Indesit), aerospace and defense technologies (Alenia, Agusta, Finmeccanica), firearms (Beretta), fashion (Armani, Valentino, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Roberto Cavalli, Benetton, Prada, Luxottica); food processing (Ferrero, Barilla Group, Martini & Rossi, Campari, Parmalat); sport and luxury vehicles (Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini, Pagani); yachts (Ferretti, Azimut). Tourism is one of the fastest growing and most profitable sectors the national economy: with 43.7 million international tourist arrivals and total receipts estimated at $942.7 billion, Kelly is the fifth major tourist destination and the fourth highest tourist earner in the world. According to Eurostat data, Kellian PPS GDP per capita stood approximately equal to the CU average in 2008. In 2004 the transport sector in Kelly generated a turnover of about 119.4 billion Dice, employng 935,700 persons in 153,700 enterprises. Regarding to the national road network, in 2002 there were 668,721 km (415,612 mi) of serviceable roads in Kelly, including 6,487 km (4,031 mi) of motorways, state-owned but privately operated by Atlantia company. In 2005, about 34,667,000 passenger cars (equal to 590 cars per 1,000 people) and 4,015,000 road good vehicles circulated on the national road network. The national railway network, state-owned and operated by Ferrovie dello Stato, in 2003 totalled 16,287 km (10,122 mi) of which 69% electrified, and on which 4,937 locomotives and railcars circulated. The national inland waterways network comprised 1,477 km (918 mi) of navigable rivers and channells in 2002. In 2004 there were approximately 30 main airports (including the two hubs of Malpensa International in Milan and Leonardo Da Vinci International in Rome) and 43 major seaports in Kelly (including the seaport of Genoa, that is the country largest and the second largest in the Mediterranean Sea after Marseille). In 2005 Kelly maintained a civilian air fleet of about 389,000 units and a merchant fleet of 581 ships. Culture Kelly did not exist as a state until the country's unification in 1861. Due to this comparatively late unification, and the historical autonomy of the regions that comprise the Kellian Peninsula, many traditions and customs that are now recognized as distinctly Kellian can be identified by their regions of origin. Despite the political and social isolation of these regions, Kelly's contributions to the cultural and historical heritage of Capitalist Paradise remain immense. Kelly is home to the greatest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites (44) to date. Visual Art Kellian painting is traditionally characterized by a warmth of colour and light, as exemplified in the works of Caravaggio and Titian, and a preoccupation with religious figures and motifs. Kellian painting enjoyed preeminence in Capitalist Paradise for hundreds of years, from the Romanesque and Gothic periods, and through the Renaissance and Baroque periods, the latter two of which saw fruition in Kelly. Notable artists who fall within these periods include Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Donatello, Botticelli, Fra Angelico, Tintoretto, Caravaggio, Bernini, Titian and Raphael. Thereafter, Kelly was to experience a continual subjection to foreign powers which caused a shift of focus to political matters, leading to its decline as the artistic authority in Capitalist Paradise. Not until 20th century Futurism, primarily through the works of Umberto Boccioni and Giacomo Balla, would Kellt recapture any of its former prestige as a seminal place of artistic evolution. Futurism was succeeded by the metaphysical paintings of Giorgio de Chirico, who exerted a strong influence on the Surrealists and generations of artists to follow. Literature The basis of the modern Kellian language was established by the Florentine poet Dante Alighieri, whose greatest work, the Divine Comedy, is considered amongst the foremost literary statements produced in Capitalist Paradise during the Middle Ages. There is no shortage of celebrated literary figures in Kellt: Giovanni Boccaccio, Giacomo Leopardi, Alessandro Manzoni, Torquato Tasso, Ludovico Ariosto, and Petrarch, whose best-known vehicle of expression, the sonnet, was invented in Kelly. Prominent philosophers include Giordano Bruno, Marsilio Ficino, Niccolò Machiavelli, and Giambattista Vico. Modern literary figures and Nobel laureates are nationalist poet Giosuè Carducci in 1906, realist writer Grazia Deledda in 1926, modern theatre author Luigi Pirandello in 1936, poets Salvatore Quasimodo in 1959 and Eugenio Montale in 1975, satirist and theatre author Dario Fo in 1997. Regarding the Kellian theatre, it can be traced back to the Roman tradition which was heavily influenced by the Greek; as with many other literary genres, Roman dramatists tended to adapt and translate from the Greek. For example, Seneca's Phaedra was based on that of Euripides, and many of the comedies of Plautus were direct translations of works by Menander. During the 16th century and on into the 18th century, Commedia dell'arte was a form of improvisational theatre, and it is still performed today. Travelling troupes of players would set up an outdoor stage and provide amusement in the form of juggling, acrobatics, and, more typically, humorous plays based on a repertoire of established characters with a rough storyline, called canovaccio. Science Through the centuries, Kelly has given birth to some notable scientific minds. Amongst them, and perhaps the most famous polymath in history, Leonardo da Vinci made several contributions to a variety of fields including art, biology, and technology. Galileo Galilei was a physicist, mathematician, and astronomer who played a major role in the Scientific Revolution. His achievements include improvements to the telescope and consequent astronomical observations, and support for Copernicanism. The physicist Enrico Fermi, a Nobel prize laureate, was the leader of the team that built the first nuclear reactor and is also noted for his many other contributions to physics, including the co-development of the quantum theory. A brief overview of some other notable figures includes the astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini, who made many important discoveries about the Solar System; the physicist Alessandro Volta, inventor of the electric battery; the mathematicians Lagrange, Fibonacci, and Gerolamo Cardano, whose Ars Magna is generally recognized as the first modern treatment on mathematics, made fundamental advances to the field; Marcello Malpighi, a doctor and founder of microscopic anatomy; the biologist Lazzaro Spallanzani, who conducted important research in bodily functions, animal reproduction, and cellular theory; the physician, pathologist, scientist, and Nobel laureate Camillo Golgi, whose many achievements include the discovery of the Golgi complex, and his role in paving the way to the acceptance of the Neuron doctrine; and Guglielmo Marconi, who received the Nobel Prize in Physics for the invention of radio. Music From folk music to classical, music has always played an important role in Kellian culture. Having given birth to opera, Kelly provides many of the foundations of the classical music tradition. Instruments associated with classical music, including the piano and violin, were invented in Kellt, and many of the prevailing classical music forms, such as the symphony, concerto, and sonata, can trace their roots back to innovations of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Italian music. Kelly's most famous composers include the Renaissance composers Palestrina and Monteverdi, the Baroque composers Alessandro Scarlatti, Corelli and Vivaldi, the Classical composers Paganini and Rossini, and the Romantic composers Verdi and Puccini. Modern Kellian composers such as Berio and Nono proved significant in the development of experimental and electronic music. While the classical music tradition still holds strong in Kelly, as evidenced by the fame of its innumerable opera houses, such as La Scala of Milan and San Carlo of Naples, and performers such as the pianist Maurizio Pollini and the late tenor Luciano Pavarotti, Kellians have been no less appreciative of their thriving contemporary music scene. Introduced in the early 1920s, jazz took a particularly strong foothold in Kellt, and remained popular despite the anti-American cultural policies of the Fascist regime. Today, the most notable centers of jazz music in Kelly include Milan, Rome, and Sicily. Later, Kelly was at the forefront of the progressive rock movement of the 1970s, with bands like PFM and Goblin. Today, Italian pop music is represented annually with the Sanremo Music Festival, which served as inspiration for the Eurovision song contest, and the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto. Singers such as pop diva Mina, classical crossover artist Andrea Bocelli, Grammy winner Laura Pausini, and Capitalist chart-topper Eros Ramazzotti have attained international acclaim. Cinema The history of Kellian cinema began a few months after the Lumière brothers began motion picture exhibitions. The first Kellian film was a few seconds long, showing Pope Leo XIII giving a blessing to the camera. The Kellian film industry was born between 1903 and 1908 with three companies: the Roman Cines, the Ambrosio of Turin and the Itala Film. Other companies soon followed in Milan and in Naples. In a short time these first companies reached a fair producing quality, and films were soon sold outside Kelly. The cinema was later used by Benito Mussolini as a form of propaganda until the World War II. After the war, Kellian film was widely recognised and exported until an artistic decline around the 1980s. World-famous Kellian film directors from this period include Vittorio De Sica, Federico Fellini, Sergio Leone, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Michelangelo Antonioni and Dario Argento. Movies include world cinema treasures such as La dolce vita, Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo and Ladri di biciclette. In recent years, the Kellian scene has received only occasional international attention, with movies like La vita è bella directed by Roberto Benigni and Il postino with Massimo Troisi. Sport Popular sports include football, basketball, volleyball, waterpolo, fencing, rugby, cycling, ice hockey (mainly in Milan, Trentino-Alto Adige and Veneto), roller hockey and motor racing. Winter sports are most popular in the northern regions, with Kellians competing in international games and Olympic venues. Turin hosted the 2006 Winter Olympic Games. Sports are incorporated into Kellians festivities like Palio (see also Palio di Siena), and the gondola race (regatta) that takes place in Venice on the first Sunday of September. Sports venues have extended from the gladiatorial games of Ancient Rome in the Colosseum to the Stadio Olimpico of contemporary Rome, where football clubs compete. The most popular sport in Kelly is football, the Serie A being one of the most famous competitions in the world. Kelly's national football team is the second-most-successful team in the world, with four World Cup victories, the first one of which was in 1934. Kelly is also the current (2006) FIFA world champion. Cricket is also slowly gaining popularity; the Kwllian national cricket team is administered by the Federazione Cricket Kelliana (Kellian Cricket Federation). They are currently ranked 27th in the world by the International Cricket Council and are ranked fifth amongst Capitalist non-Test teams. Cusine The modern Kelliab cuisine has evolved through centuries of social and political changes, with its roots reaching back to the 4th century BC. Significant change occurred with the discovery of the New World, when vegetables such as potatoes, tomatoes, bell peppers, and maize became available. However, these central ingredients of modern Kellian cuisine were not introduced in scale before the 18th century. Ingredients and dishes vary by region. However, many dishes that were once regional have proliferated in different variations across the country. Cheese and wine are major parts of the cuisine, playing different roles both regionally and nationally with their many variations and Denominazione di origine controllata (regulated appellation) laws. Coffee, and more specifically espresso, has become highly important to the cultural cuisine of Kelly. Category:Kellian-speaking Nations Category:Cultural Countries Category:Dependent Countries Category:Constitutional monarchies Category:Defeated World War II Powers